Operatives of multi-agency Sea Based Anti-Trafficking Task Force (SBATTF) have rescued some 50 would-be human trafficking victims on board a Sandakan-bound vessel at a privately-owned wharf in Baliwasan Seaside, this city.

Initial report showed that the would-be human trafficking victims from different parts of Zamboanga Peninsula were rescued on board M/L Nurhira, docked at the wharf in Baliwasan Seaside, which was about to depart for Sandakan, Sabah Malaysia, formerly North Borneo.

The task force is composed of personnel from different government and non-government agencies, among which are the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), City Social Welfare and Development Office, Visayan Forum, Bureau of Immigration,

The rescued victims were brought to the Department of Social Welfare and Development where they were processed for assistance to bring them back to their respective places of origin.

On October 25, four women were rescued by the SBATTF in Sangali and last August other would-be trafficking victims were rescued by policemen backed by operatives of the multi-agency Sea-Based Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (SBATTF).

They were the third batch to be rescued in the month of August alone by the authorities while in transit to Malaysia via this city.